Friday, March 20, 2009

Hardcore or Crazy?


When my Mom saw my hands last weekend her reaction went something like this:

Mom: (GASP!) "Oh my gosh! Nicole, what did you do?"
Me: "Ma, I was working on pull ups! I actually did it on my own - no bands!"
Mom: "That's not right! Look at your hands!!!"
Me: "I'm tough stuff now Mom!"
Mom: "I don't know Nicole, girls hands aren't supposed to look like that"
Nicole: "It's all about Fight Club Mom....."

My hands don't look like this on a regular basis -- this was after 100 pull ups and every time you dropped from the bar you had to do heavy kettlebell swings. After the first 20 I was dropping from the bar every 3-4 pull ups...yuck! Many people say that blisters or rips on your hands are a sign of your accomplishment or achievement. Sounds crazy...but in a weird way this is true.

Doing pull ups is one thing I've struggled with, it's not so much a physical deficiency as it is a mental block. During this workout I had to mentally block out the pain. I had to go to a place where I shut out the surface pain and focused my energy on my current state and task before me. I had to set aside all preconceived notions about what women can and can't do and push myself past a point I thought I was capable. When I dropped off the bar after pull up number 100 and looked at my bloodied hands all I could think was Fight Club -- "Stay with the pain, don't block it out" This workout left me with rips on my hands, in exchange I took my mind and body to a new level of accomplishment. The small wounds, my badge accomplishment.

3 comments:

Mel_Joulwan said...

There are no words. 100 pullups?!

Congratulations.

Unknown said...

Way to go Nichol!! Welcome to the club of ripped hands. Pile the Neosporin on those rips overnight without a bandage for a few nights and then cover them for a few days until you get a new layer of skin. Let them dry out after that and you are good to go!
B

erikajeanne said...

but Ma, it's fight club! hahahaha